Day 4 of April’s Challenges

This is going to be a long month. And one in which little outside of challenges gets done. Today I have three separate challenge styles to post.

The first is from Poetic Asides. The poem format used is of my own decision, since no specific form was required—a common occurrence. This prompt was so wide-open that my mind reeled from the assorted immediate mental flashes of subject.

The following is what I selected, purely by Muse. I sat down and just began writing. The results were unexpected. I hope you enjoy the efforts.

April 4, 2012 Day 4 Prompt—100% (blank) Fill in the blank and make title

In a short while I’ll post my offerings for Poetic Bloomings. The In-Form challenge for today is: tanka. Tanka is a Haiku form that has five lines instead of three. Those five lines have specific syllabic counts: 5-7-5-7-7. Some of the finest tanka examples I’ve seen tell a complete story in those five lines, containing 31 syllables—no small feat, but breathtaking when done well.

I’ll do my best to not disappoint when I write mine.

I also have a poetry challenge on BlogHer for a Sestina poem. Sestina is a long form, comprised of six stanzas of six lines each, and followed by one “envoy” or triplet stanza. The complication with this form arises from the necessity of re-arranging the end words of each line of each stanza into a specific use pattern. The point of a sestina is to tell a complete story in lyrical form, since its origin came from French troubadours.

I have one of those yet to create, as well. When I finish it, I will post it here.

I won’t be posting my task-of-the-day work for Robert Brewer’s Author Platform Challenge. That’s a separate and different kind of challenge that will go elsewhere.

To there you have it, folks. Check back often today. It’s going to get crowded on this blog for April 4th.